Irish motorists have reported a spike in insurance premiums when going for renewals, despite the banning of price walking within the industry.
Last year, the Central Bank introduced a ban on price walking, meaning companies could no longer charge renewing customers more than first times ones, unless there were changes to their risk profile.
Despite this, concerns have been raised by the Alliance for Insurance Reform around the rise of price walking again in Ireland.
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Peter Boland with the Alliance for Insurance Reform told RTÉ Radio 1's This Week that the measure brought in by the Central Bank was effectively the "big bang" for insurance reform.
"The insurers told us repeatedly that they didn't engage in dual pricing or price walking. Then the Central Bank went in and did the research.
"What they said was that our analysis shows that price walking is common in the private car and home insurance markets," he explained.
Mr Boland stressed the importance of data in keeping the insurance companies honest.
"Now in the last few months motorists are telling us that their premiums are drifting back up again," he added live on air this Sunday.
In a statement to the show, Insurance Ireland, the representative body for insurance companies in the State said they will continue to implement the rules brought in by the Central Bank.
When asked on what else can be brought in to counter price walking, Mr Boland said he is looking forward to the Central Bank publishing a report on price walking by the end of the year.
A report at the beginning of the show highlighted a discrepancy in the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and National Claims Information Database (NCID) on the true figures relating to insurance premiums.
"They (Central Bank) are really the key players in this in terms of information and it is information that will force insurers to pony up on this issue," he stated.
He asked that the Central Bank bring the report forward as a matter of urgency.
"If there is any suspicion that price walking is happening again and indeed if there is any suspicion that motor insurance premiums are drifting up again generally. That would be unconscionable," he said.
Mr Boland asked that government apply intense pressure on insurers to get premiums down.
"We also need more competition in the market. It's clear that the incumbents are not delivering the benefits that everyone has worked on," he added.
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